A much-branched shrub, with fluted stems and long, spreading branches, 1 to 3 m. high, rarely up to 7 m., Bark reddish brown, peeling off in thin, fibrous strips; leaves lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate; flowers numerous, brilliant red in dense axillary paniculate-cymose clusters; capsules ellipsoid, membranous; seeds brown, minute, smooth obovate.

Stimulant (in pregnancy), astringent and abortifacient (flower), antibiotic (shoot), stimulant (plant-low dose), depressant (plant-high dose), stimulates the bowel (plant extract), antipyretic.

Herb Information
Woodfordia fruticosa
Herbal Monograph

Anthocyanins, hecogenin, kaempferol and mesoinositol (flower), polyphenols (flower and leaf), octacosanol and beta-sitosterol (stem), C-glucoside (bark).

In sores, ulcers, problems with mucous membranes of the body, hemorrhages, seminal weakness, menorrhagia, as a tonic, stimulant (in pregnancy) and astringent (flower), bowel disorders (including dysentery) (plant and flower), to treat thirst, toothache, bleeding, anorexia, diarrhoea, dysentery, leucorrhoea, amenorrhoea and herpes.

Chandel et al., Biodiversity in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in India.